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Introduction

Making websites and web applications more usable by older people includes addressing accessibility requirements. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 explains how to make all web content accessible for people with disabilities and older people. WCAG 2.0 also provides a variety of Techniques that can be used to meet these accessibility criteria. To optimize your web design for older people, WAI recommends meeting WCAG 2.0 at Level AA, and using some of the Techniques listed on this page that have shown to be particularly relevant to the needs of older people.

Understand the Needs of Older Users

An extensive literature review identified that WCAG 2.0 addresses the accessibility needs of older users, provided that certain Techniques were used to meet the Success Criteria. These Techniques are included in the How to Meet WCAG 2.0 quick reference, and are also specifically listed in the Appendix on this page for convenience.

Using WCAG 2

WCAG 2.0 includes organizing Principles and Guidelines; Success Criteria at three levels: A, AA, AAA; and Techniques to meet these criteria. To learn about WCAG, see:

WCAG Overview - for background, an introduction to WCAG, and links to additional information

WCAG 2.0 is a common goal for web accessibility for people with disabilities and older people with age-related impairments, and harmonization of accessibility standards is a critical pursuit. WAI encourages the ongoing development of WCAG 2.0 through the submission of additional techniques for the implementation of the success criteria to meet the ongoing requirements of particular groups or particular situations. WAI also welcomes participation in the development of accessibility guidelines.

Providing a text description that contains information about the number of input errors, suggestions for corrections to each item, and instructions on how to proceed (future link) [advisory]

Providing a text description that contains suggestions for correction as the first item (or one of the first items) of content, or emphasizing this information in the content (future link) [advisory]

Displaying errors and suggestions in the context of the original form (for example, re-displaying a form where input errors and suggestions for correction are highlighted and displayed in the context of the original form) (future link) [advisory]